Journal of Nursing & Care

Objective: The objective of this study is to describe the novice nurses' perceptions of communication skills in Saudi Arabia. Method: A questionnaire developed by Moss that examined nurses’ communication with psychiatric patients was used. The questionnaires were collected during the month of December, 2016. Results: A total of 59 questionnaires were obtained from 89 participants, representing a 66.29% response rate. Findings revealed that novice psychiatric nurses faced challenges in communicating with psychiatric patients. Education and training from either nursing college or hospital orientation program were lacking. Conclusion: Nurses who have been in work for more than 12 months were confident in their communications with psychiatric patients. Nursing and hospital orientation program should be improved and empowered to prepare novice nurses for the psychiatric setting.

Child nurturing is usually a shared responsibility between both parents, until in recent times that lone parenting is becoming more widespread. Viewed in diverse ways by many authors, it is simply raising a child by one parent alone, whether the other parent is alive or not. This is seen as normal by some, and thus offer social support; or as absurd, unacceptable, shameful and thus stigmatized both the lone parents and their children. How does the Zaria community perceive single parenthood? A descriptive cross-sectional survey in two urban Local Government Areas in Zaria metropolis was conducted, using a researcher-constructed questionnaire. Data obtained from 270 respondents were analysed descriptively using SPSS 21.0. Results indicated that single parenting is a common reality in the study setting: the main causes of which include divorce, children born out of wedlock and some parents choosing to have children as single parents. It is believed that factors such as the quest for economic independence by some women as well as social approval/choices are contributory to its increasing prevalence. There are perceived positive and negative effects associated with single parenting. Many respondents advocated for some assistance such as provision of basic needs and free education for single-parent families and children, depending on the cause/route to single parenting. It is concluded that single parenting is an increasing social issue, with limited acceptance in the study area. Strengthening the family institution to reduce contention factors that break intact families should form part of social engineering to forestall negative effects of single parenting.

Background: Nurses are key players in health care delivery, with night shift nurses having a special role in the provision of this health care. Night shift nurses are responsible for patient care with little support in a difficult working environment; under conditions of fatigue and other hardships directly related to working at night. Objective: The present study aims to find out the impact of night shift on nurses quality of life; and to find out any relationship between the quality of life and some demographic characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, level of education and duration of career. Methodology: A descriptive study was carried out to assess the nurses’ quality of life. The nurses who work at Teaching hospitals of Medical City Complex were recruited from the 21st of February to 15th of July 2015. A nonprobability sample of 70 night shift nurses was selected. The investigator constructed the questionnaire for purpose of the study. This questionnaire consisted of two parts; some demographic characteristics of those nurses and a scale which assess the levels of quality of night shift nurses. Data are analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and Pearson Chi-Square as an inferential statistical analysis. Results: The study results revealed that the majority of study participants were young and married. About quarter of the number of the nurses have duration of career of five years and less. More than half of nurses had very weak and weak quality of life. Mid-aged nurses had lower levels of quality of life. The results showed that the male nurses had higher levels of quality of life than female nurses did and the married nurses are more likely to have lower levels of quality of life than unmarried did. Finally, there was a significant relationship between levels of quality of life and gender and age. Recommendation: The study recommends that it should provide adequate off-duty hours to let an uninterrupted sleep cycle of at least 8 h a day, which may affect nurses’ daily life at home. It should use permanent shift assignments, which may diminish tiredness effects, instead of rotating shift duties.

The present study investigated the effects of a 10 week walking program using hiking poles on intra-and extramyocellular lipid (IMCL and EMCL) content in elderly as assessed by 1H-MR spectroscopy. Six nursing home residents aged between 65 and 84 years (n=6) participated in the study. The subjects were asked to walk for at least 30 minutes a day, three days per week. Intramuscular and blood lipid concentrations were obtained at baseline and at after the 10 week study. 1H-MR spectra were acquired from the tibialis anterior (TA), soleus (SOL) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles. Significant difference was not observed in IMCL concentrations on between before and after pole-assisted walking (PW) program (NS). A significant reduction was recognized in EMCL concentrations and EMCL/IMCL ratio on TA (p<0.05) and MG (p<0.01) between the values before PW and those after. Mean HDLC (p<0.01) and TC (p<0.05) concentrations increased after completion of the PW program. A decrease in VLDL-C (p<0.05) and HDL-C/LDL-C ratio (p<0.01) was also observed at this point. These results show that the PW program induces a decrease in intramuscular lipids and improves lipoprotein profiles in the elderly nursing home residents.

Introduction: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) workforce is composed of close to 67 different nationalities. Diversity in the nursing workforce is unique in the hospital reason being the expatriates outnumber the Saudi nationals. Staff from different backgrounds provides a different perspective to the clinical care ensuring the hospital standards and policies are adhered to. In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), when these new nurses arrive, their grasp of Arabic is limited. It is essential that nurses understand the language of their patients. In intensive care setting, patient’s condition is critical and highly specialized nursing care is paramount to the safety of the patient. It poses a challenge for non-Arabic speaking nurses to overcome the language barriers, to ensure high quality care is provided to the patient, maintain patient satisfaction and confidentiality. Therefore, communication tool kit is developed to overcome the language barrier. The tool kit is an educational instrument for non-Arabic speakers by expediting learning most frequent terms and words in Arabic. Aim: The purpose of this study is to focus on the importance of implementing a communication toolkit to enhance the communication between the nurse and the patient. Moreover, this study attempted to evaluate the efficacy of this communication tool prepared for non-Arabic health care providers. Method: Descriptive Quantitative pre and post-test study design was used. This study included all adult intensive care units and non-Arabic speaking nurses from KFSHRC in Riyadh. The pre and post questionnaire was developed by a panel of experts working in the ICU. The communication toolkit was created by direct care staff nurses working alongside the multidisciplinary team to address communication barriers. Baseline assessment was conducted which highlighted the common words and culturally appropriate images used by the Arabic patients. After the approval of the ethics and research board the study was conducted. Recruitment of the participants was performed on a voluntarily basis. On the basis of the sample size, 95 percent level of confidence, 73 participants were recruited. The communication toolkit was distributed for the duration of three months. Follow up was performed by the investigators after three a months’ time frame. Results: The results of the study showed that 90 percent of the nurses did not study Arabic prior to their arrival in the hospital. 72 nurses completed the pre and post questionnaires. Majority of the nurses were from Asian countries and few were from Western countries. Most of the nurses were using interpreters to overcome the language barrier. With regards to the questionnaire 94 percent of the nurses viewed that this toolkit will overcome their language difficulties. 19 percent used the toolkit daily, 55 percent used it twice per week and 16 percent used once per month. In regards to the efficacy 83 percent stated that this toolkit is a good mode of communication with the patients. 50 percent of the nurse highlighted the need for Arabic classes. Conclusion: This study highlights the need for the toolkit to improve the language barriers. Most of the nurses have suggested Arabic classes, access to electronic devices and need for interpreters to overcome the language barrier. The toolkit is important and is to be made available in all areas of the organization.